Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-07-29

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could never have anticipated the advance
ment of learning which is the offspring of
his own genius in this distant quarter of the
world.
"Totumque infusa per artus mems agitat
lnolem, ct magno sc corpore INSECT y
We have reason to he proud of the part
we have played in the objective trumphs of
inductiva science as applied to material inn
provements Our practical philosophy has
annihlated distance, brought the world into
neighborhood, given to each cline the pro
ducts of all, assuaged pain, conquered dead
ly diseases turned night into day and com
PEELED the subtlcst and strongest forces of
nature to relieve the labor of shaving mil
| lions.
But all these are products of mental fac
ultv and limited 10y its range. Intellect and
soul have the mastery of the world and it can
advance only with the growth of our sub
iectvc powers.
1t is this too often forgotten truth, that
devolves unpre 'edemted responsibilities upon
the men of learning and influence in our
day The Titanic forces and universal
uuckening which science aud invention
have impaired to industrial enterprise de
mand corresponding increase in the intel
lectual and spiritual activity of the age, that
our matcrialsm may not drift into inf
deity
The physician whose round of daily du-
ties brings him as a messenger of pity, into
chambers of suffering and death, where the
diSguises of life are dropped and the soul
calls for sympathy and relief, or guidance,
without cant and prejudice, into the untred
beyond, acquires an unquestioning trust and
weight of influence given to but few beside.
! The power thus acquired, if judiciousy used,
may become potential fact in maintain
| ing the ascendenCy of ethical ideas and alb
stract truths amid the progress of physical
science. ] have little respect for dogmas
that rest purely upon authority and de
mand crcdence in spite of evidence because
they are old But there is Il science of
mind, as securely founded in facts as the
science of matter
Physics as well as metaphysics in the last
analysis, has no resting place but faith, and
all history proves that impalpable ideas and
! beliefs have more power in moulding the
characters and shaping the deStinies of man
kind than the sensible realities that sur
round us on every hand. a people without
faith in spiritual entities, people not an
chorcd to mysteries which they can not
demonstrate by logic, IA goddess Pee pie, is II
restless, immoral and revolutionary people,
They have no authoritative principles with
which to test the alluring fancics and theo-
ries of gifted solhists and adventurers, and
so drift without chart or compass, upon Il
sea of perpetual doubt A sense Of reSpon-
sibility to IA supreme intelligence imparts an
elevation of character and gives depth and
steadiness to national history.
| There will and must be n change in popular
customs and political forms. An melastlc
constitution will be shattered by growth
and discomfort from within.
The cure for sick nations is to conform
their institutions to the exigences of the
State which change with notifications of
character and circumstances. But people
that has not some object of faith that is per-
feet infinite and Interchangeable, will develop
fickleness and instability and mar its historic
record by sonseoss and bloody wars.
1t is public and personal duty of the
professional men of our country to use their
influence for the maintenance of an enlight
/ ened and controlling religious sentiment in
| their respective communities. 1t is die
tate alike of patriotism and prudence look
| ing to the peace of the life that now is,
well as the hopes of life to come
There is yet another sphere in which we
have IA right to anticipate the paramount
! influence of professional men. | refer to
the department of letters The creation of
a dstnctively American iterature-a liter
AZURE that shall not be a feeble and distorted
reflection of European scenery and social
life, but one impressed with the breadth,
grandeur and beauty of n new world, and
| instinct with the freedom, aspirations and
moral attributes of the latest and noblest
republic of history, is an object worthy of
the loftiest ambition of the most gifted of
our race American youth should not
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foreign sources, for their mental food will
determine their intellectual and moral char
acteristics and give tendency to their lives.
We are a new people surrounded with
types of natural scenery of unparalleled
majesty and beauty We have civil poity
unknown to the old world, and history
crowded with events of tragic and passion
ate interest We have a population educat
ed to appreciate and support whatever is
written in the spirit of the republic. A
national literature strong, profound and lib
erty loving, drawing its inspirations from
these and kindred American themes would
be power to assimilate 1.-The stranger with
in our gates, - and to lift our own people
above the sordid influences of gain into the
realm of exalted and Transforming ideas.
Much and honorable work has already been
done in history, poetry and eloquence, but
harvest richer and more thoroughly national
is yet to be garnered.
There is n prevalent notion in certain quar-
ters that high culture is unfavorable to the
exercise of original genius 1t is readily adj
mtted that some of the unschooled master
minds of the race have assembled on eagles
wings into the brightest heaven of inven-
ton. y
! Avarice limited the education of the STAN
mering boy of Greece who became the
prince of orators. A blind beggar gave to
the world the Had and Odyssey and the
unlettered Shakespeare is crowned vic
tor in the Olympiad of song. But genuses
of such celestial temper are not measures
of the average talents of mankind, and if
they were it you'd be "A false and degrading
theory, that the understanding wearies and
the spirit dulls as we widen the range
of knowledge. Truth and beauty are the
natural food of mind, and are most readily
assimilated into power by the most gifted.
Miracles of invention spring from what is